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The Future PC as a Set of Pens?
Strudelkugel writes "The Wave Report covers a concept PC that NEC is working on, called P-ISM. (Maybe the name doesn't work, but it looks cool.) The design concept uses five different pens to make a computer. One pen is a CPU, another a camera, one creates a virtual keyboard, another projects the visual output and thus the display and another a communicator (a phone). All five pens can rest in a holding block which recharges the batteries and holds the mass storage. Each pen communicates wirelessly with the others."
Just imagine, one pen a different color (Red, Blue, Black, Yellow and Pink).
Camera!
Virtual Keyboard
Output!
Phone!
CPU!
I can imagine there would also be Green, Purple and White pens. These would be evil addon pens.
I can't imagine what they'd fight against. It would be the lamest thing since Gumby.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Cool, finally a computer I can chew on!
Reinout
Reinout van Rees
And you think you get pissed off now when someone walks off with one of your pens....
I'm reminded of the old Kids in the Hall sketch. "Hey, That's my pen!!!"
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
If you want to sell to geeks, you have to know your market
This is just the sort of inprobable usefully useless technology I'd expect to see make the Anime to reality jump.
You will once again be able to identify a geek by his pocket protector.
Ichihashi-son used as inspiration James Bond and the future of what technology could be. But Ichihashi-son stated that this is closer to reality than what appears in the 007 movies.
I think he used the Revenge of the Nerd movies. Next up: the slide-rule server.
I looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked into me--and we both winked.
Doh off by a minute!
=P
Anyway, at the rate people lose their pens, this is probably not too great...
Needless to say: NO, you CANNOT borrow my pen!
People borrow pens without returning them all the time. I don't wnat someone to fo' shizm my P-ISM.
Are you Corn Fed?
How much you can overclock a pen. I guess it depends on how hot it runs.
If they make these pens look like crystals, we can start living it up in out own personal fortresses of solitude!
That was classic intercourse!
And these will be even smaller then my handheld....or not. Sure you will be able to manipulate them into differant shap[es in your pocket, but what happens on the day you forget one of your pens? And imagine all the wierd looks you'll be getting at the laundramat when you go insane, not because of the ink splotch, but because of the cost :P
Whee signature.
He was really inspired by the man from u.n.c.l.e. A james bond pen would dispense acid, and have a built in laser, super electromagnet and rocket launcher.
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
Wonder if I could hack the wireless connection to another persons pens at their desk.
Evolution or ID?
The Japanese like building schoolgirls and molesting giant battle robots
(that's the right way round, yeah?)
Can I also get a pocket protector that acts as a firewall to prevent my pens in my pocket from getting hacked?
Evolution or ID?
Demolition Man II. Hey, HE doesn't know how to use the five pens!!!
Jeff
I can't help but think this is nearly as poor a design as the three sea shells...
I always thought the old "exploding pen" trick was a lame joke left over from Get Smart.
Plus ca change...
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. - Mark Twain
Mod parent up!
16 comments and slashdotted already. There doesnt appear to be a google cache either. I guess I must make the obligatory comment about them running their server on one of these pens.
Tis better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt --Abraham Lincoln
I'm waiting for the one marker to rule them all!
Trust Your Technolust
That's right, I want a dozen people saying:
left right click click left left start run format c: enter yes enter noooooooo!!!!
Imagine a beowolf cluster of these. The supply closet could be the most power computing system in a company.
Evolution or ID?
is mightier than the sword.
Upcoming titles include "Poke the Guy Next To You In The Ribs", "Ink Flick Mayhem" and "Draw on The Unconscious Drunk Guy". Still, it's better than the N-Gage.
Worried you might not keep your virginity forever? Try new Linux(TM), guaranteed twice as effective as LARPing
That means that I'll find a few computers under the bed or behind the fridge every time I clean.
I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is an imaginary number. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and dial again.
P-ISM? A computer built into pens?! That's nothing! I invented a computer that's built into your jeans! I call it J-ISM, naturally.
What? It comes in your pants!
Just when geeks were gettin away from pocket protectors and becoming socially aceptable. Now I'll never get laid. Nevermind, wasn't much chance of that anyway.
Ordinary people think that computing has to do with magic anyway. (must be those pesky "wizard interfaces")
I'm sorry, the number you have dialed is an imaginary number. Please rotate your phone 90 degrees and dial again.
Like geeks don't have enough baggage stuck on our image. I can just see the pocket protectors with cooling fans and neon lights on them....*shudder*
Slashdot, home of supporters of free software, free music, and free speech.Except for Moderators that disagree with you.
... if configured as servers, will they be mightier than the blade?
This article remindes me of a standup line by Mitch Hedberg.
"I bought an expensive pen the other day because I keep loseing pens and I was tired of not careing"
...it becomes a gun that shoots a golden bullet.
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
my CPU needs a 600 gram heatsink to run cool. This CPU pen is going to melt it's casing before the OS even thinks about starting up.
W WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!)
Assuming it manages to start, I think this is going to become a lot more common! (Oops! Time for a meeting. Better pocket m' pens. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
My other car is first.
Oh, nevermind.
Man: Dude . . . i just had a sweet idea.
Dude: Lay it on me man.
Man: You know how superman has all those crystals that he can like, plug into stuff in the fortress? and it like . . . does stuff?
Dude: That is totally sweet.
Man: Oh yah, i know - but what if, like, EACH one of those crystals was also . . . A FULLY FUNCTIONAL PEN!!!!
Dude: . . . . You have just totally blown my mind man.
--- and if you don't like that, how about this ---
Infinium Labs: Behold the majesty of our new, always on, super-terrific awesome badass pen computer thingy!
Person: um . . . that's just a bunch of ball point pens shoved into a styrofoam block.
Infinium: LIES! don't you see the battery?
Person: It's just held on with scotch tape. you don't even have a wire running to it or anything.
Lawyer: You will cease and desist from disparaging Infinium Labs.
Person: whatever.
Darl: excuse me gentlemen, but . . . would that be running linux by any chance?
** Chigusaaa!!! You're the coolest girl in the WORLD!!! **
that would be here :)
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
I don't know about you, but I like feeling the keys putting up resistance
someone has control issues...!
:-)
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
Umm, Harlan Ellision wrote it. Who cares who they hired as the meat puppet to act in it?
---
Talk to the hand...
Ok That Was Bad...
Hey Guys! Is she statisfied with the size of your P.E.N.S.?!
Is that a hard drive in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
The possibilities for jocularity seem endless. Oh, and I'm really looking forward to a computer I can lose 1/5th of through a moment of innatention. "No, waiter, I REALLY need MY pen back. It's got all the third quarter earnings numbers on it!"
It Is the Nature of Information to Transgress Artificial Boundaries
We should call these 'interactive pens' or 'pen-i'.
That way we can truthfully say:
"I do all my productive work now with my pen-is!"
Do they come with a pocket protector?
int main left parenthesis int argc comma char asterisk asterisk argv right parenthesis left curly bracket printf left parenthesis doublequotes Hello World backslash n right parenthesis semi-colon right curly bracket
I take it the syntax error is deliberate?
Hey folks, remember when laptops and pdas came out and companies started charging $50 - $100 for "leather like" " (i.e. vinyl)cases? I can't wait for the "nappa leather Franklin-covey pocket protectors". Plastic just won't be enough for the PHBs, the $1.00 pocket protector will be so out of it no one will want it, it'll die for lack of sales and the laundry business will have a revival as people try to figure out how to keep pencils from messing up their shirts.
Life is a trip - pack your parachute.
It doesn't matter what you wrap your emotions around, Reality is a brick wall specifically designed to scramble eggs
...IBM presented their new series of rock-paper-scissors servers claiming a more intuitive and color-blind friendly installation procedure then NEC's 5 pen solution, while Dell introduced an extension to their much heralded line of high end multi-media shoelaces which starting next month will also be available in buckle form as recent consumer research showed that nerds prefer loafers.
But can they write?
I would hate this as I like to have that feeling of something being depressed when I type.
I felt depressed while reading your post.
I'm just wondering, if P-ISM is the name of this product, what are they going to call the Java-enabled version?
Take any action you do on a computer.
...uh....hot asian lesbian cheerleader pr0n"
/.ers?
Now figure out a way to SPEAK that action, without any ambiguity. Now compare how long it takes to SAY that, with how long it takes to do via a keyboard or mouse.
It may not replace it COMPLETELY but....
"Power on"
"Sort
"Power off"
I can see a big potential in hands-free computing, and frankly, this probably wraps up what, 60% of the market and 80% of
-Styopa
In other words, the pen that runs Windows.
I've got an idea for another pen. It's a vibrator, controlled by the CPU, or networking device. Good in combination with the cam pen.
Excuse me, I think i just lost my CPU.
Detect typos? Who do you think you are, a spell checker? The computers of tomorrow will be capable of detecting common mistakes and correcting them automatically. In this particular case the P-ISM (BTW, "writing" and "letter" [message] in Russian are "pismo") might be able to understand where you think the keyboard is, based on the relative positions of the keys and on valid character sequences. E.g. if I typed "jwtviard" it would understand that I meant "keyboard", but missed the keys.
:(
Check out As-U-Type, a nice piece of software that fixes spelling mistakes in any Windows application (or underlines them with red, which doesn't work in Opera, though...). That's the kind of technology that may be helpful to P-ISM users.
P.S. There may be errors in this post, since As-U-Type is not compatible with another piece of software, which I use to automatically switch from Latin to Cyrillic.
Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.